Dilshan Resigns As Sri Lanka Captain

Tillakaratne Dilshan has unexpectedly resigned the captaincy of his country, according to a statement from Sri Lanka Cricket, and replaced for the One-Day International tour of Australia by Mahela Jayawardene.

He was appointed ahead of the tour of England last summer, also leading his side against Australia, Pakistan and more recently South Africa.

"National Captain T.M.Dilshan has submitted his resignation as Captain of the National team to Chairman of the National Selection Committee with immediate effect.

"Dilshan has resigned as captain in all three formats of the game. We wish him well as he continues to represent Sri Lanka as a National Player," a statement from the board read.

Under his leadership, the side won just one Test match - against South Africa - and failed to gain a One-Day International series victory.

He has also struggled to maintain his best form with the bat since taking over as skipper, averaging 33.6 in 11 matches although he did score a career-best of of 193 against England at Lord's.

They lost the Test series against England, Australia, Pakistan and South Africa and he averaged just 20.95 in 21 ODIs while in charge, his side going on to win eight of them.

He did have a more profitable time leading the Twenty20 side, beating Australia, a game in which he scored an unbeaten 104, and Pakistan in two of his three matches in charge.

Jayawardene captained the side between 2006 and 2009 before stepping down to allow Kumar Sangakkara to take over. Sangakkara led Sri Lanka to the 2011 World Cup final, which they lost by six wickets to India, resigning after the tournament.

Jayawardene similarly led the side to the final of the 2007 World Cup final where on that occasion they lost to Australia.

Angelo Mathews has been named as Jayawardene's vice-captain for the Commonwealth Bank Series of ODIs in Australia that also features India.